Tara Ward watches as Jenny-May Clarkson departs Breakfast and TVNZ after two decades on our screens.
It was only 6.01am on Jenny-May Clarkson’s last morning on Breakfast, but the flowers were already arriving. “Where are mine?” Clarkson’s co-host Chris Chang joked, as the two presenters sat together on the Breakfast couch for the final time. There would be proper goodbyes later in the show, Chang promised, but Clarkson’s final serving of Breakfast would feature a typically eclectic mix of topics – including divorce (“not us,” Chang added), emergency housing shortages and the disturbing news that catteries around the country are already fully booked for the Christmas holidays.
Clarkson’s departure from Breakfast was only announced last Thursday, with TVNZ confirming they would refresh the show in 2026 and begin the search for a new presenter. The following morning on Breakfast, Chang had asked Clarkson if she had any news to share. “Nah, nope, nothing at this time, we’ve got a show to get on with,” Clarkson had joked, adding that it had been an “absolute honour and privilege” to be invited into viewers’ homes for the past six years.
Today, Clarkson leaves TVNZ as one of their longest-serving presenters, having joined the network in 2005 as a netball commentator. After a variety of presenting roles, including sports presenter for 1News at Six, Clarkson joined Breakfast in 2020 and was the first wahine Māori to be appointed as a co-host. Over the following years, she danced through Covid-19 lockdown chaos, released kiwi into the wild, shared the powerful experience of getting a moko kauae and delivered powerful footage from Te Karaka on the East Coast in the days after Cyclone Gabrielle.
But this morning, Clarkson wanted the focus to be on anything else but her departure. She promised viewers she wouldn’t cry, but Chang reckoned they had two and a half hours to break her. Viewer feedback began to flow in, with Maureen emailing about her favourite Elvis movies and Clarkson’s old teacher from Piopio College sending a message of support. Colleen wrote that she usually turned the TV off when Clarkson wasn’t on it, a notion that horrified Chang. “Do we have time for one more email?” he asked. “No,” Clarkson replied.
Luckily, it was a busy morning on the couch. Clarkson interviewed Jan from Keeping Katz cattery about hosting 100 felines over the summer holidays, and ended by wishing her a merry Christmas. “It’s November, can I say that?” Clarkson wondered, but Jan replied with a cheery “Meowy Christmas”. Journalist Suzanne McFadden stopped by to give a sports update and ended by paying tribute to Clarkson. “I have always been so inspired by the way you have reinvented yourself,” McFadden said, a message that made Clarkson clearly emotional. “I nearly broke her,” McFadden laughed. “We’ll get there,” Chang said.
It was windy and raining in Wellington and mainly fine in Christchurch, with nor-westerlies developing in the afternoon. After the 7 o’clock news, TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman crossed live to the studio and began by honouring Clarkson, who she described as “a pillar of strength for us as Māori and Pacifica journalists”. “You have been a Māori matriarch,” Sherman told her, while Clarkson’s voice wobbled as she suggested they get onto politics. “Thank you for your kind words,” Clarkson replied at the interview’s end. “I have been the lucky one.”
Throughout the morning, the show looked back on some of Clarkson’s most memorable Breakfast moments (lots of dancing, lots of hugs), with supportive messages from former co-hosts Jack Tame, Matty McLean and John Campbell. Just before 8am, a weird Ikea-sponsored segment saw Seven Sharp’s Jeremy Wells fondle some plants in a Christchurch hothouse, while Chris Schulz from Consumer NZ (and before that, The Spinoff) warned us about Black Friday sales, and award-winning hip-hop dancers performed live from Christchurch.
Emotional farewells on Breakfast are nothing new, but at 8.28am, a special message from one Chris Chang in Auckland brought Clarkson to tears. Chang started reading as if it was an email from an anonymous viewer at home, until his voice began to wobble. He finished by saying it had been a pleasure to be part of Clarkson’s latest chapter, “even if that chapter was about perimenopause”. Clarkson wiped tears away before Chang broke the emotional tension. “I need to go to the news position now,” he said, gathering up his papers and leaving the couch. “This is awkward,” laughed Clarkson.
Clarkson once told The Spinoff that Breakfast was the best job with the worst hours, and at 8.55am – after a tearful three hours of live television – Clarkson marked the last of those early morning wake-ups. Surrounded by her whānau and colleagues, Clarkson finally broke and delivered an emotional farewell, paying tribute to her “hardworking and passionate” colleagues at TVNZ, the inspiring team at Breakfast, her whānau and close friend Chang. She saved her last goodbye for the loyal Breakfast viewers who were watching at home. “To all the guests who have trusted me with your stories, thank you for the privilege,” she said, tears returning in her eyes. “Thank you for the honour of being in your homes every morning. I will miss you all.”
Breakfast screens weekdays on TVNZ1 at 6am and streams on TVNZ+.